Control head coupling



R. SHIPLEY March 28, 1944.

CONTROL HEAD COUPLING Filed Dec. 2, 1942 Patented Mar. 28, 1944 CQNTROLHEAD ooUrmNe be Shirley, a zo 119E111 assi mr ta Shakespeare ProductsCompany, lgalamazpc,

Micli., a corporation of Michigan 7 Application December 2, 1942,.Serial No. 467,645

4 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in control devices, i. e.,control devices such as are used in connection with chargeformingdevices and the, like of airplanes and other types of motor drivenvehicles, the invention having for an object. to provide a novel,practical and constructionally simple form of means for attaching acable or like connection to a control head whereby said cable will berendered self-adjustable with relation to the head and thus, insureunimpeded slidable adjustment of the control head and the efiectual,faithful and accurate transmittal of operating. motion to the cable andto the device or apparatus to be actuated or controlled thereby, as forexample, the controls of charge forming devices of automobiles,airplanes, motor boats, etc.

The invention also aims to provide. a control device cable coupling end.fitting so constructed as to permit convenient, rapid and positivereceptio and retention of a cable, coupling head therein, allowingpivotal or limited universal movement of said coupling head during andthroughout its entire period of use; hence, assuring automatic or selfrelative adjustment of the connected cable in order that operativelinear. motion will, at all times,.b.e faithfully and accuratelytransmitted thereby to a.v device or apparatus. operatively connectedthereto; moreover, a fittingwhich, when desired, can be as convenientlyand rapidly adjusted to .allow disconnection of the coupling headtherefrom for purposes of parts inspection, repair, replacement, etc.

Other objects of the invention will be in part obvious and in partpointed out hereinafter.

In order that the invention and its mode of Operation may be readilyunderstood by those skilled in the art to wh ch it appertains, I havein. the accompanying drawing and; the detailed description basedthereon, set out one embodimer t of my invention.

he drawingi Eigure 1 is a longitudinalelevation, with parts" in'section,of my improved control coupling.

vFigure 2 is a fragmentary perspective view of a block of material fromwhich the improved coupl ng fitting, may be-formed or shaped.

Figure 3 is. a side. elevation. of .the improved coupling fitting at itsfirst stage of production. Figure 4 iswan end elevation of the same.Figure, 5 is an elevation similar tothat illustratedby Figure. 3,wherein the coupling head has-been drilled. to provide an internalchamber.

Figure 6 is a longitudinal section takenat substantiallyrighfanfgles toEigdre '5;

Figure 7 is a likeslection in which the outer end' of the couplingfitting; has been milled or sawed to receivethe shank" of a couplinghead therethrough.

Figure 8 'is an end ele ation ofthe coupling head illustratedinFigure"7. Figures is a fragm'rit arv elevation, partly in longitudinal semen;snowing the formation er theicu'ter end cf the "loch "rod" or controlhead which is adaptedto'be' engaged "in 63mm; the w l fi t n 1 1t man erh wn nF 'i e i and A Figure 9' i a qfilfill-q l filfil iiilq 1th.; timeof cpu'p heeqem ii i t rs t q ifv th he qqnt l eqlal n ittina lim n morPar icula "i ferenqet th drawmg, in tangent w t h'jl ke cha act r o frenc wi d ig ate cq resnq d ne art xv hqu and r er i g. Pe i r't i ure 1he menace .qreiwi the; t e 0. 01 1% trol im hani ii .il i strat e' rselec ed n t is ar icular rei a er dr e smh diment f my n i n comm s Y tb 511i?- able material, length and VI rneter, externally screw, threadedalong one of its endfpoft bns, as at 2, adapted to be'received'thro'ugh'an. apprde priate opening or. way formedv in a control board 3 andmoreover, adapted; t. be immdvably e r o l cke h 'rsla iq t 5 m o l nmee t q ace pl e tame qvi e s re -threaded nd .eq tiene the b dy tube, Iarin .1.191 .aqiaceet siqe PQ FT iQiI of ai con rc hwm tend lock nut:turned upon v said screw: threaded portion 2 of the bodytube. I;adlac.ent..,the. opposite side of said control board .3. and moved intobinding engagement with aninterpositioned lock washer 6 engaged aboutthe body-tube and bearing upon an=adjacent -portion of the outer. sideof the control board. v

A. c nt o head r leq s qc l of; arab len h i ebl e i e! acdlthr ueh' theear tube-.1. The qute ensl ofithec ni rgl'head 1S pljovidedwith aknobnfi fiequ pped with afsleevek lilreshank portion 8f, the latter. ha1 l veanteria e a-1a e sc p cally en a ed therewit -The age like shank 91s nnected-at its .in enend, to. a latch rod .(not, shown) cooperativelyassociated: with the control .heador:.lqck...mdr( 'whereby: the lattermaybe releasably' locked or secured in predetermined adjusted positionswithin and with respect to the body tube I.

' The outer end of the control head I is externally screw threaded as atI and has a co-axially disposed center drilled opening or pocket lltherein, as well shown in Figures 1 and 9 of the accompanying drawing;it being noted that the outer end of this drilled opening or pocket H is'chamfered as shown a'tfl l-, for a' purpose which will be subsequentlyapparent. A locking nut I2 is turned upon the screw threaded portion IDof the control head I and, obviously, is nally movable therealong.

The improved coupling fitting comprises a body of metal or othersuitable material, designated in its entirety by the numeral l3, havingan integral and co-axially disposed internally screw threadedsleeve-like shank M on one end thereof adapted to receive the externallyscrew threaded portion In of the control head I therein andtherethrough. A relatively right angularly arranged or disposed andcross sectionally circular chamber l5, having a rounded bottom l,isgprovided in the body of the coupling fitting l-3 This chamber 15 hascommunicationwith theinner end of the sleevelike shank l4 and opens ontoone side of the outer end thereof. The outer end ofthe coupling fittingis formed with a milled or sawed slot or way l6, which, as will be notedupon reference to Figures 7 and 8 of the accompanying drawing,

. communicates with the outwardly and sidewardly opening portionsof thecross-sectional circular chamber l5. 7

A ball-shaped or spherical coupling head [1, of

appropriate diameter, is movably though comparatively snuglyreceivedwithin the cross-sectionally circular chamber 15 of the fittingl3 and carries an outwardly disposed shank 18 passing through theopenouterend of .such chamber and the slot or way Hi'in order to affordmeans whereby' a flexible cable l9, or the like, may be connectedthereto. The cable 9,'Ias will be understood, extends into operativeengagementor connection with the device or apparatus (not shown) to'beactuated or controlled by the control mech ani'sm,fsuch for example,'asthe control of a j charge forming device or carburetor of an airplane,automobile; motor boat or other motor driven vehicle.

With introduction "of thespherical h ad n of the'c'oupling headinto thecross-sectionally circular chamber 15' of the fitting l'3,-thecontrolhead] is rotated in a directionto cause inward movement of the screwthreaded end portion l0 thereof into the adjacentportibn ofits'communieating chamber 15: By such movement or ad justment of thecontrol head 1, it will be noted that the chamfered portion l l'iofthe'opening or pocket ll formed in the nowadjacent end of the controlhead 1 will be brought into seating. or capping like engagement with anadjacent portion of the spherical head ll, of the coupling head. Whensuch engagement hasbeen; established, the nut I2 is turned intobindingorlocking engagement with the adjacent end of the internally screwthreaded portion '14 of the fitting l3, thus locking'it against furtheror undesired rotary or turning movement. In consequence,

the spherical head I! of the couplinghead will'be lockedorsecuredwithin-"the chamber l5 against lateral displacement thereofvia its'openside, but

nevertheless, comparatively free pivotal movement of said spherical headand hence, the coupling. head,'willbe permitted whereby to permitlongltudiamazes;

mit of relative automatic or self-adjustment between the two thusconnected elements and too,

will insure, through such self or automatic adjustment, efiicient,faithful and accurate transmittal of linear motion from the controlmecha- V "nism (the control head 1) to the flexible cable l9 ,iand thedevice or apparatus to which the latter relative automaticorself-pivotal adjustment beis operatively connected,

It will be understood and appreciated that the extent of lockingengagement of the chambered inner end of the control head 1 with thespherical head ll of the coupling head may be adjusted or varied byturning the screw threaded portion III p of said control head into orfrom the internally, screw threaded sleeve M of the coupling fitting I3,thereby moving the same into desired rela-I' tionship with respect tosaid spherical head I l.

Also, it will be understood that following the atv tainment of suchdesired character of engage ment, the same may be maintained or retainedby bringing the locking nut l2 on said screwv threaded portion ll] intobinding engagement with the adjacent end of the sleeve M.

In producing my coupling fitting, I preferably efiect the same fromsquare or substantially square bar stock, as fragmentally illustrated inFigure 2 and now identified by the numeral 20.

By appropriate and well known machining operation capable of beingaccomplished upon an auto-' matic screw machine, a coupling fittingblankor body, such as shown in Figures 3 and 4 and identified by the numeralI3, is produced. At this stage of production operation, the coupling fitting body I3 is right angularly drilled, thereby forming thehereinbefore described cross sectional circular internal chamber [5, oneportion of which opens onto the normally outer end of the body, as at2|, and the opposite end portion of which communicates with theinternally screw threaded sleeve-like shank l4 (see Figures 5 and 6). Atthis point, the normally outer end of the coupling fitting body 13 istransversely slotted,

as at I6, by milling, sawing, or like operation,

7 thereby establishing communication and hence,

permitting the introduction of the coupling head comprising thespherical head I! and its shank l8 into said cross-sectionally circularchamber [5.

The above described method of producing the improved coupling fitting,obviously, is such as to effect a maximum saving in production time;moreover, to afford a fitting possessing exceedingly rugged and durablecharacteristics. manner in which the slot or Way I6 is :formed in thenormally outer end of the fitting, obviously,

represents a material saving of time, labor and expense in so preparingsaid fitting that its crosssectionally circular chamber I5 has commoncommunication with one side and the normally outer end of the fitting;the latter, however, being of limited character by reason of the widthof said slot l6 so that the shank l8 of the spherical head I1 will bepermitted of but a relatively limited movement in certain directions,though greater movement in directions opposite thereto.

The

Additionally, said slot [6, by reason of its formation, obviouslypermits of convenient and ready introduction of the spherical head ll ofthe coupling element into the cross-sectionally circular chamber of thecoupling fitting and too, as convenient and ready removal of thiselement therefrom, when such is desired.

Manifestly, the construction shown is capable of further modification,and such modification as is within the scope of my claims, I considerwithin the spirit of my invention.

I claim:

1. In a control device, a coupling body, the normally outer end portionthereof having a transversely disposed cross-sectionally circularchamber therein opening onto one of its sides and onto its normallyouter end, the remaining portion of said body having a longitudinallydisposed screw threaded way formed therethrough opening, at one end,onto the adjacent side of said chamber, the diameter of said way beingless than the width of the chamber, a rod having a screw threaded endportion engaged in said screw threaded way and engageable, at times, insaid chamber, the inner end of said rod having a recess therein and ashank carrying spherical head rotatably received in said chamberengageable in the recess in the inner end of said rod whereby to preventits lateral displacement from the chamber and having its shank normallyengaged through the open outer end of said body portion.

' 2. In a control device, a coupling body, the normally outer endportion of said body having a transversely disposed cross-sectionallycircular chamber therein opening laterally onto one of its sides, theremaining portion of said body having a longitudinally disposed screwthreaded way, of a diameter less than the width of the chamber, formedtherethrough opening at one end onto the adjacent side of the chamberintermediately of its opposite ends, the outer end of said body having atransversely disposed way formed therein communicating with the adjacentand outer side of said chamber and with its open lateral side portion, arod having a screw threaded end portion and a recessed inner end engagedin the screw threaded way and engageable, at times, in said chamber, anda shank carrying spherical head rotatably received in said chamberengageable in the recessed inner end of said rod whereby to prevent itslateral displacement from the chamber and having its shank normallyengaged through the open outer end of said body portion.

3. In a control device, a coupling body, the normally outer portionthereof having a transversely disposed chamber therein opening onto oneof its sides and onto its normally outer end, the remaining portion ofsaid body having a longitudinally disposed way formed therethroughopening at one end, onto the adjacent side of said chamber, the diameterof said way being less than the depth of said chamber, a rod having anend portion engaged in and longitudinally adjustable to differentpositions in said way and engageable, at times, in said chamber, theinner end of said rod having a recess therein, and a shank carryingelement pivotally received in said chamber and engageable in the recessin the inner end of said rod whereby to prevent its lateral displacementfrom the chamber and having its shank normally engaged through the openouter end of said body portion.

4. In a control device, a coupling body, the normally outer :portionthereof having a transversely disposed chamber therein opening onto oneof its sides and onto its normally outer end, the remaining portion ofsaid body having a long r tudinally disposed way formed therethroughopening, at one end, onto the adjacent side of said chamber, thediameter of said way being less than the depth of said chamber, a rodhaving an end portion engaged in and longitudinally adjustable todifierent positions in said way and engageable, at times, in saidchamber, retaining means on the inner end of said rod, and a shankcarrying element pivotally received in said chamber, engageable in saidretaining means whereby to prevent its lateral displacement from thechamber, and having its shank normally engaged through the open outerend of said body portion.

ROBERT SHIPLEY.

